‘UNLIKELY TEENAGER’

Greta Thunberg Named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year

The 16-year-old has been honored after leading the global activist movement against climate change this year.

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old who has led the global activist movement against climate change this year, has been named as Time magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year. In its announcement, the magazine wrote: “For decades, researchers and activists have struggled to get world leaders to take the climate threat seriously. But this year, an unlikely teenager somehow got the world’s attention.” Thunberg’s global crusade started humbly in August 2018, when she started skipping school to camp out in front of the Swedish parliament, holding a sign that read: “School Strike for Climate.” She has since addressed heads of state at the United Nations, held a meeting with the pope, and exchanged jabs with President Trump. Her crowning achievement came in September when four million people joined the global climate strike—the largest climate demonstration in history.

The magazine also named “The Public Servants”—former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, Ambassador William Taylor, ex-National Security Council Russia expert Fiona Hill, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, and the unidentified whistleblower who filed the complaint that launched the Trump impeachment inquiry—as its Guardians of the Year. Lizzo was picked as its Entertainer of the Year, and the U.S. women’s national soccer team was honored as Athletes of the Year.